6 Tips to Help You Revise Your Writing in English ----------------------------------------------------------- 1. Keep it Simple : Try to keep your messages simple. When learning a language, it is always your tendency to write the same way in your new language as in your native language. Unfortunately, it takes a long time to develop advanced writing skills. Since English is not your native language, it is best to work with simple sentences. By keeping your writing simple you will ensure that it is written correctly and is easily understood. 2. Hook Readers from the First Line: Does your first line or paragraph grab your reader’s attention? Does it make them want to keep reading? Try to make the beginning of your story or essay interesting. Some possible ways to begin your writing are with: a definition, a quote, a statistic, an anecdote, or describing/setting a scene. 3. Spice your Words Up: Do you use vague, plain words? Or do you use descriptive words that really make your writing stand out. Don’t use words like said, good or bad. Add more descriptive words to your writing that makes it stand out. Instead of said; you could use: declared, uttered, cried or replied. Instead of good; you could use: enjoyable, pleasant, wonderful or lovely. Instead of bad; you could use: horrible, awful, appalling or dire. 4. Move or Remove Parts that Don’t Make Sense: If after rereading your writing something does not seem right; change it! Try moving sentences or even paragraphs around to make your writing more consistent. If you just can’t find the right place for something, remove it! If you don’t want to completely delete it, move it to another document (or page) where you can easily copy and paste it later and add it in; if you find a new place to put it. 5. Read Your Writing Out Loud and Backwards: How many times have you thought your final draft of writing was done, only to find more errors? It happens to me all the time. Start at the last line of your paper or story. Read the last sentence out loud. Are its mechanics correct? Does it have a capital and punctuation? Is everything spelled correctly? Does it make sense? Now, move on to the sentence before it. By starting at the end of your paper and working up to the top you are forced to look at each sentence in isolation and make sure it is correct. This is a helpful way to check your mechanics and sentence structure and find any errors that you may have overlooked. 6. Ask Someone for Help: Find someone that is willing to read your paper and give you feedback and/or look for errors. Tough it may be difficult to share, the more people that read your writing and give you ideas and feedback; the more refined your writing will become. Don’t be embarrassed to show your work to others… remember your goal is to have an awesome final draft. Getting some help along the way will make you a better writer. All published authors have editors that go through each draft and find errors, pose questions and give feedback. Remember, you don’t have to take all of the advice someone gives you about your writing. You can pick and choose which of their ideas is best for your work.
Posted on: Sat, 18 Jan 2014 12:23:21 +0000
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